Well, today I started the vac. hose/ non. seq. job. It's tedious as hell, but so far I've managed to get the air box, the intercooler elbow, the throttle body, and the upper intake manfiold off. However, I didn't seperate the throttle body from the UIM. The stupid UIM was a pain in the butt to get off, because one of the nuts was worn, so my tools couldn't grip it correctly. Thank god for WD-40, and brute strength. Some of the wires were a pain to get to because of the firewall, but weren't too much trouble. So now that I have all the junk off, it's onto the solenoid rack, and figuring out how to do this non-seq. mod. This is my first time taking apart the engine like this, and I can't figure out for the life of me what some of the hoses and stuff do/connect to, but thats the fun. Well, thats my progress on the work so far. Some spilled blood, cold, stiff, dirty hands, and a sore SORE back. Gotta love the FD

 

Working on the FD is easier on the back when its elevated on ramps. 60 bucks for a pair at Sears is cheaper than a chiropractor!

 

****, your just getting started. I think I could have all that stuff taken off the car in about 20 minutes. The rest of the job is much much harder.

Make sure you replace that UIM nut too. And WD-40 won't do jack on a cap nut on the UIM. I'm not sure what you meant by that.

 

My car is lowered too, so it's extra bad. Some ramps are a must. I'll probably get some tommorow.

Please, don't remind me. I just found out that what I thought was plastic when cold, was actually rubber when warm, LOL. My car has 100K(not engine) on it, and the hoses need to go.

My mistake, it wasn't a nut, it was a screw. The nuts on the UIM were easy to get off, but this screw was holding on a wire near the firewall side of the UIM. It was crazy rusted and worn, so few tools could get around it in order to turn. WD-40 helped me loosen it, and the brute strength did the rest.

 

Good luck on the rest of it. Your lower back is going to hate you for the next week or two

 

LOL, thanks man. My back will thank me later once I sit in the seat of a non. seq. FD.

 

i just did the vac hose job too. i found getting the manifold and tb off and back on was the hardest part. the rest isn't that bad. just make sure you take your time w/ the solenoids. i ended up breaking four of them and it took me the longest time to get a hold of some. but in your case it's alot easier since you are going non-seq.
nick

 

I'm actually intimidated by the solenoid rack. When I first saw it, I got the "WTF?" look on my face. Thanks for the warning on the solenoids, as I hear they break VERY easily...and because of the cold weather, I already broke what I "thought" was plastic. God that rubber gets bad after 100K miles. LOL If this is any sign of a cold solenoid, I'm going to have to heat them up some, with my heat gun, and cut the rubber, before I go in and pull stuff. Anyone know how much heat they can take? Thanks nick.

 

They can take alot of heat remember there on a FD. Just kidding. on the nipples of the solinoids it helps to slit the hard hoses in a couple places then either give them a twist, or break off the hose a little at a time.
Good job and take your time.
Eric

 

what is the advantage of going no sequential?
do you just have to mess with the hoses?
is the boost the same?

 

the worst part of the job is to remove and replace the UIM due to the 3 electical connectors against the firewall. The rest wasn't really that hard. It's best to have 2 person when R&R the UIM. One holding the UIM an inch away from the UIM and the other person connecting & disconnecting the plugs (preferrably a girl with small hands) this way you won't yank too hard on the wires on the connectors.

When doing the hose job, I learnt from a fellow member (alwan16) to blow up a 4x copy of the vac hose diagram and as you replace the hoses, color in the equivalent hoses on the diagram. This makes it that much clearer as to what you have left and so forth.

Also, forget about removing the solenoid rack. Instead, remove the whole assembly. To do that, remove the coils, the five fuel lines, 3 bolts and it's off. Once it's remove, you can take your time changing those hoses at a table. While the solenoid rack assembly is off, you should also change the Fuel Pulsation damper, get your injectors cleaned and replace 0-rings, and check for any cracks or leaks. Finally, there are 2 hoses on the turbo control solenoid (3rd from front, bottom row) that you should pay really close attention to. I triple checked it according to the diagram but still ended up switching them which was the cause of my 0-0-12 boost pattern.

 

Air-Rex, thanks for the tip. I figured since they were in the engine bay, they could take a lot of heat, but I didn't know how much DIRECT heat they could take exactly. (My heat gun can go above 1000F ...not that I'll set it that high.)

For me, the greatest advantage would be simplifying the the engine bay. There will be far less hoses, and problems will be easier to diagnose. It also gets rid of boost spikes. The power output is also smoother, as it eliminates the transition from primary to both turbo's operating. Also too, I want to reach 400rwhp, on upgraded twins, so non-seq. will be a better way of achieving that power. Non-seq. is also more predictable around corners, for the same reasons. There is more lag down low, but since I'm only getting 3psi through a boost leak(which is why I'm doing the vac. hose job), and don't need off the line power for regular driving, it doesn't really matter. I've seen guys make max boost as low as 3500rpms, and during a race, you rarely drop this low anyway, so the car will be within it's powerband when I need it.

Dragoneer,
Your absolutely right. I had two friends helping me. One was actually holding the hood higher, as it's still low when working that far back into the engine bay. One of the others was holding it away, and I was squeezing behind trying to disconnect stuff.

Thanks for that last tip. It's really cold out, so working inside is preferable. (No garage )

 

Heating up the solenoids with a heat gun is very bad idea, in my opinion. You'll risk melting something, or catching something on fire. I don't think heating them up will help you at all, either. Here's what you need to do (you may have read this already). Take a razor blade and make a cut in the hose where it attaches to the nipple. The cut will be parallel with the direction of the nipple. Now, take a small flathead screwdriver, carefully stick it in the cut you just made, and twist. The hose will 'peel' off of the plast nipple. Never ever EVER pull on a hose. You WILL break off the nipple.

As someone else suggested, replace your FPD while you're in there, and if you get really ambitious, pull your injectors and send them to (RC Engineering?) to get cleaned and balanced.

 

bah, this is all childsplay!!! hahaha, i i personally dont feel comfortable with the razor blade method. i used a pair of diagonal cutters and slowly cut small pieces off of the nipples. once you do a couple youll get used to it and be able to go a little faster. dont go too fast though. . . we all know what happens if you rush a project!!!!

have fun,
paul

 

Paw140,
Heating up the rubber surrounding the solenoids actually turned out to help. Applying pressure, while trying to cut the rubber in cold "plastic" form is next to impossible. After heating it up lightly, the razor cuts through it like butter. The solenoid on the inside reamains fine. I certainly don't hold the heat gun near them long enough to melt/catch fire.

So far, I haven't broken any nipples, but I've ran into a problem. Two of the three screws on top of the solenoid rack, are rusted tight, and won't budge. Because of their location, WD-40 doesn't really help, and can't get under the screw. As a result, I'm unable to take the screws off in order to pull the solenoid rack out, unless I risk wearing out the screws. I have to find some way to get the solenoid rack out, so I can work on it inside, and reach the other stuff beneath it.

Rotorbrain,
I use an exacto-knife to cut the rubber. Razors, aren't too bad once you get the hang of it. This project will be going SLOW because of the above situation.

 

you need to let the screws soak in some really good penetrant. get some pb blaster if you can get ahold of it. its better than wd-40. let em soak for a long time (too be safe), then get some ajax powder (becareful not to spill it anywhere) and put it on the screw head. that will help with some extra "bite" on the screw. BE VERY CAREFUL WITH THAT AJAX!!!!! if you cant get it off that way. . . actually this may be the better solution: use some vice grips to twist the heads of the screws. then replace them with hex-headed screws. that will help the install go a bit smoother.


yeah, id take them off using a vice grip instead of the ajax. if you cant get a vice grip wrench back there, then use the ajax. . . but, BE CAREFUL!!!!!!!

paul

 

nevermind. . . im thinking about powdered drain-clog pusher. haha, sorry about that. the comet/ajax should be fine.

sorry about that.. . . id still use the vice grip first, though. haha.

paul

 

Rotorbrain,
Awesome suggestion, your the man. However, I already tried your second method of using vice grips...the location of the screws and the small size makes it too difficult...looks like...we'll have to use...the AJAX! (dum-dum duuuuh!)

Honestly though, no amount of realistic physical strength could handle this one. I need something mean. I'm honestly going to have to look into your first suggestion, as they will NOT come loose. Getting the solenoid rack off is vital.

 

it is vital without a doubt!!! go ahead and scrap those dirty summabeaches for some hex-headed screws anyways.

you see how much of a pain it is to get in there? you should definately think about going non-seq now!!!

paul

 

I would take Dragoneer's suggestion and remove the whole thing. I've read about other people doing this, and you don't need to mess around with those phillips head screws.

If you do want to remove the screws, I suggest using a ratchet with a 1/4" socket and a phillips head bit. You can get a lot more leverage with a ratchet (compared to a screw driver), and you can use most of your energy pushing down on the ratchet to keep it engaged with the screw head. This is what I did (and many others), and it usually works beautifully.

Also, in your description, you say that 'two of the three screws on the top...'. You don't need to remove the screws on the top. You need to remove the screws in the front and back of the rack. There are two or three facing the front of the car, and two or three facing the firewall. The ones facing the firewall are the hardest to get at, but you should be fine if you use my ratchet approach.

I never heard if the ajax trick. I don't buy it, but I guess its worth a shot.

 

you should be using a socket wrench on the rear screws. it works better, but be more focused on thrust pressure rather than rotational movement. you want to break the screw first.

paw140. . . you dont like me do you? haha, ajax is an abrasive. it is gritty and small. you can use it to fill up some places and help grab both of the surfaces you are moving (i.e. screwdriver tip and screw head). it works. i use it everyonce in a while. its kind of a last resort thing.

paul

 

Shinobi-X - that car was in desperate need of a vacum hose job. Those vacum hoses are tuff as nails. I hope the boost poblem gets cleared up after the hoses are replaced.

 

Nothing personal... we just seem to disagree a lot But I'm always open to new ideas

I guess I could see the ajax help the screw driver from slipping out. I'll try it the next time I have some stubborn phillips screws.

 

My thoughts exactly. No sense in keeping old screws while I'm upgrading the car. I may be doing a vac. hose job, but the ultimate idea here is replacing old worn stuff in the engine bay.

Hell yeah man, non-seq. is definately the way to go. I'll have to see what step of the vac. hose process I should stop at, so as to start the non-seq. process.

I'm following a set of directions for the process, so I may be mistaken about the screws on top of the rack. Yesterday when I was trying to remove them, I found the location kind of odd, and wondered why they had to be removed. I just decided to call it a day though. As for the screws the HAVE to be removed, I can see the ones in the back (which will be HELL to get to...) but I'm guessing I have to remove the alternator to get to the ones in the front. Is this right?

Yep. I wouldn't dare try and stick my hand back their with a screwdriver. From the angle, I cant even tell what type of screws they are.

Hey, haven't talked to you in a while. As you can see, this is my progress, and my first major work on the car. Those hoses are like plastic, and I don't know how I'll safely get them off, but I'm sure I'll work it out. Hopefully, I fix the boost problem with this project, but if I don't, I'll be sending the turbos off to be repaired and upgraded in the same process. I'll be putting on the DP you gave me, and I'm also getting a nice polished Y-pipe from FD3boost. One way or another, I'll reach my goal.



Paw140/rotorbrain,
Thanks a lot for the help so far. This process is a pain in the butt, but I'll be sure to give you guys credit once I get my magazine feature.

 

Yep, the alternator has to come off.